Britta Urness grew up in Black Earth, WI and received her BFA in studio art from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 2004. She is currently in her second year of the graduate painting and drawing program at the University of Iowa.

The artist writes about the work, "My paintings sew together seemingly disparate elements of a situation by layering images and forging relationships through constructed characters and the props that reside with them. Items or processes within the work can act as a celebration of guilty pleasures. For example, marmosets perch along the edge as a framing device or paint is thickly applied around a desired form. Silhouettes can create a presence that retain some personality, but also embody a sense of deletion- or muteness."